Anthony Rizzo‘s place on the ALCS roster was far from a sure thing. It remained to be seen just how much the first baseman could contribute with two fractured fingers.
The Yankees took a gamble and trusted the word of their veteran that he was good to go, and they are reaping the benefits. It wasn’t even a guarantee that the veteran would play in Tuesday night’s Game 2.
“He called me when he got up this morning. Felt like he’s probably going to be good to go,” said Aaron Boone. “So, [he was] sore this morning, but nothing, too bad. So we’ll see. Want to make sure he goes through all his treatment and stuff, and it’s good to go. But so far so good.”
The first basemen led the charge for an impactful bottom-of-the-order in the Bombers’ 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. With Anthony Volpe on first in the bottom of the fourth inning, Rizzo lined a double down the right-field line scoring the shortstop and extending their lead to 4-2.
It was a much-needed swing for the Yanks to restore the energy from their home crowd immediately after Jazz Chisholm Jr. was picked off at second base taking the air out of the building. The 35-year-old was 2-for-4 on the night as his other single in the bottom of the second inning was in the midst of another rally that was started by the player in front of him.
Volpe lined a leadoff single up the middle as the shortstop continued his strong postseason. The 23-year-old was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice. The New Jersey native has appeared as a completely different hitter in October as he’s been on base with regularity compared to his .293 on-base percentage he posted in the regular season.
The Gold Glover’s postseason on-base percentage is up to .458 after his performance on Tuesday night and is setting up Rizzo and Alex Verdugo to continue to do damage with timely hitting.
Verdugo added a massive poke of his own as the outfielder lined an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning scoring Volpe and jumping the Bombers out to a 2-0 lead. The 28-year-old continues to make his manager look good — as he opted to sit top prospect Jasson Dominguez at the beginning of the postseason — with timely hitting.
The stars surely carried the Bombers into October. However, their role players have been a foundational part of their success and that will have to remain the same if they want to lift trophy No. 28.